Daddy's Girl Reviews

There really is only one Rhoda Penmark, but ever since Patty McCormack played that soulless killer in THE BAD SEED (1956), other murderous moppets have challenged her tiny niche as the all-time parental nightmare. But unlike McCormack's pig-tailed sociopath, who struck swiftly, the mini-murderess of DADDY'S GIRL telegraphs each psychologically needy move like a hebephrenic tyke in a toy commercial. A product of a dysfunctional environment, grade-schooler Jody (Gabrielle Boni) can't stand it when her adopted mother Barbara (Michele Green) mocks the toy-invention pipe dreams of her husband Don (William Katt). When school principal Mrs. Hemp (Ruth Manning) threatens to lower Don's opinion of hyperactive Jody, the girl arranges for a heavy bookcase to crush her to death. Jody reacts calmly when Don invites his orphaned adult niece, Karen (Roxanna Zal), to live with them. But when meddling Grandma (Peggy McCay) advises Barbara to divorce Don, Jody attempts to poison her with drain cleaner and later engineers a fall that puts the old woman in a coma. Karen seeks info on Jody's background from social services aide Mark Springer (Whip Hubley). Meanwhile, Jody murders Barbara's divorce lawyer (Mimi Craven) with a fire poker and shuts off Grandma's hospital life support, with fatal results. Karen discovers that Jody had been removed from other households with high "accident" rates. Cornered by Karen's research, Jody sends Barbara sailing off a balcony and then blames Karen for all her homicides. Jody also kills Mark when he visits. But gullible Don can no longer defend Jody when Barbara regains consciousness and accuses her daughter. Institution-bound Jody has just lost another loving father figure. DADDY'S GIRL is so mistrustful of its horror film heritage that it doesn't allow fright fans the chance to respond straightforwardly to its warmed-over genre trappings. Every goosebump attack is followed by a nudge to the ribs. As a domestic disturbance thriller, DADDY'S GIRL does offer some insight into this warped child's psyche. But the parental arguments that precipitate Jody's crises are written, staged, and acted in a lackluster manner. The movie seeks sympathy for the pint-sized terminatrix while trying to scare us with her lethal chicanery. Neither the screenwriter nor the director knows how to sustain this kind of complicated audience response. As a result, we dispassionately watch Jody's antics as if the film was some kind of amusing anti-family propaganda. (Violence, adult situations.)